Abdominal Wall Endometriosis: Purpose of a Case and Review of Literature

Abstract

Endometriosis of the abdominal wall is defined as the presence of superficial ectopic endometrial tissue to the parietal peritoneum, whose origin may be associated with previous gynecological surgical procedures. Its prevalence is low, around 0.03%, being the first isolated case in our institution, its report and bibliographic review was necessary. The following paper is a case report and a brief bibliographic literature review. Endometriosis is defined as the presence of endometrial glands and stroma outside the uterine cavity. The definition includes injuries that may or may not be related to previous surgical procedures. It is associated with cesarean section in 57% and hysterectomy in 17%. We present the case of a 37 years old female patient, with a history of three previous cesarean sections 3, 6 and 10 years ago; who presented a clinical picture of a sensation of a mass in the abdominal wall, accompanied by cyclical pain and mass growth related to menstrual periods. Abdominal ultrasound reported a heterogeneous vascularized 4x5cm mass. She underwent surgery at our institution where an endometrial mass was evidenced that infiltrated the rectus abdominis, later the diagnosis was confirmed with the histopathological study. Abdominal endometriosis is a rare entity in medical practice. A high index of suspicion should be considered in the case of a woman who presents with disabling abdominal pain located in the abdominal wall, with a history of previous gynecological surgical procedures. This pathology can be confused with many other surgical entities; for this reason, resorting to paraclinical studies can be essential in the diagnostic certainty.